The Return Job
by thenopetrain
Summary: The team tries to save Nate before it's too late. ****SEASON 2 FINALE SPOILERS!**** summary sucks, majorly, sorry
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** totally don't own. 3 so don't suit!

**Notes: **Ya I know that there are a lot of fics going around but I've watched the darn thing like a hundred times and I'm bursting at the seams so here's a multi-chapter fic about the end of season 2.3333 enjoy!

Sterling watched the helicopter fade from view with a new determination. Once this case against the Italians was through, all bets would be off and the remaining members of Nathan Ford's team would be free reign.

"So what now?" Came a breathy and ragged voice from below. The Interpol agent looked down at his witness with a blank stare, bending down to the bleeding man's level.

"We get you to a hospital, Nate." The thief couldn't believe his eyes and ears; James Sterling, the world's biggest ass, was caring?

"Careful Sterling, you're gettin' soft." Nate replied with a light slur to his voice, his tired eyes looking distant. Sterling just laughed, shaking his head with a small smirk crawling onto his face.

"Call it preservation of evidence." That gave him the opportunity to bark more orders to the men around him, catching the gaze of Agent Nevins in the process and fixing her with an icy stare. "Where the hell is that ambulance?" Reluctantly, the woman brought her walkie up from her hip, pressed the button, and asked about medical's position.

"Two minutes." Sterling nodded and rose to motion for one of the gunmen to get the cuffs off of their target. When his hand was released, it fell, dead weight, to the deck; no strength to catch it. Nate had gone dangerously pale since the helicopter had left. As his head started to bob, his eyes fluttering as he tried to stay awake; he heard sirens signaling the ambulance's approach. It wouldn't be long now.

"Hold on there, Nate." Sterling's face appeared in his line of vision, blurred at the edges with clear worry now present in the Interpol agent's eyes, his hand reaching out to lightly shake the Mastermind's shoulder. Nathan groaned, attempting to catch his breath as he squinted when pain erupted in another wave from his side. He clutched at the wound, trying to stop the blood from pumping out of his body before gentle hands of the EMT's guided him to a prone position on the deck of the Maltese Falcon. Sterling, hovering closely behind the medics, watched Nate's eyes close as he lost consciousness. A commotion of experienced urgency rippled through the pack of medics as they tried to wake their patient. As the gurney approached, they filtered an IV into his arm, and placed an oxygen mask over his face; one medic kept a stern eye on his vitals as they tried to sustain them. When they expertly moved him from the deck to the gurney, and then jogged hurriedly towards the back of the ambulance, James Sterling followed them like a hawk. He didn't want that man out of his sights for a second because one, he could easily slip from his grasp, and two because even though they were not on good terms, he respected Nate; for what he didn't know.

"Hey, where are you headed?" Nevins' irritated voice sounded from behind him as he climbed into the back of the emergency vehicle.

"Boston General." Sterling replied as the rear doors shut and the screaming siren sounded their departure…

Eliot had been staring at the same rust spot on the bottom of the floor for the entire ride in the helicopter as he strove to fight back the anger and frustration swarming through his veins. For a moment he had thought that he had collected himself, had thought that even though his fists were still clenched, the knuckles going white, he had some how gotten a hold of his self control. But he had been wrong. He had seen the way parker leaned up against Hardison as if she needed something to hold her up, her blue eyes just staring timidly in a daze towards no point in particular. The hacker on the other hand had tried to talk, had tried to start up some kind of conversation between them so that they didn't have to sit in this God-forsaken silence that ate away every nerve in their bodies. But that was just it; they craved that numb feeling, that feeling they used to get when they hadn't been a _family_. Now it was different, now they were bonded in a way that none of them felt ready for but equally longed. Eliot sighed, finally daring a glance in Sophie's direction, of who had been completely silent as she gazed out of the small window and into the horizon; her eyes storming with so many emotions that Eliot couldn't even contemplate what she was thinking. She was a welcome distraction for the creeping feeling of being caged and incapable that was starting to rub him in all the wrong places. He needed to move, needed to let loose the energy and aggravation that held his hands in tight balls of fury and guilt.

"We shouldn't have left." Finally, the strained and growled syllables left his mouth, burning on their way out as he spit them into the air. All of them turned to look at him, Parker having startled Hardison with her slight jolt back to reality, and Sophie with a glazed look of acceptance mingling with anger; a guise for the grief ripping through her. Eliot's face was scrunched in a determined frown. "Didn't any of you notice?" He asked again, a forced calm to the steel-edge of his voice.

"Notice what?" Parker asked incredulously, as if _she_ would have missed something important.

"Yeah, man, what are you talking about?" Hardison had disengaged his arm from Parker and was now leaning forward, fixing a quizzical look at the hitter.

"Nate's arm." Sophie's grave voice sounded far away, like she was remembering, picturing everything over again in her mind. To that, Eliot simply nodded, glaring at the floor again as it sank into Parker and Hardison's minds.

"But, he was fine….." Parker's eyes had started to well up again, an angry look on her face as she bit back her emotions. Nate had always been her father figure, the one she trusted to keep them safe and because of that trust, he had sacrificed himself.

"No Parker, he wasn't. I should have done something…." Only now would Eliot voice his guilt to all of them where a year ago he would have hidden it away and acted out alone. Things certainly had changed between all of them. Meanwhile Hardison had taken out his phone, fiddling furiously with it as Sophie sighed, closing her eyes to gain control over her voice.

"Eliot, there was no way for all of us to get out of that. He bloody _handcuffed_ himself to the rail and –"

"I got it!" Hardison's face was beaming as he stared at them all. Sophie was about to go on ranting but the hacker didn't give her a chance. "Boston General. Am I good, or am I good?" He winked at Parker and Eliot scowled.

"How the hell are we going to pull that off? Nate was the Mastermind, remember? Ergo, plan-maker." He leaned back and folded his arms, settling into his seat and ignoring the bruises he had received during his '13 man take-down'.

"That's the problem with you man, no faith." Sophie sensed an argument coming and intervened before it could begin by holding up her hands.

"We need to stick together on this one. First of all, we have no equipment, no place to go, no nothing. There isn't even time for a plan unless," She looked over at Eliot, an idea gleaming in her eyes.

"Unless what? Unless we pull a blind man's bluff? No, no way." He still had his frown fixed to his face, his arms tightening over his chest in defiance. Nate had specifically said to get them out of there; and that meant to not come back.

"Doesn't sound too hard." Parker's mischievous grin was plastered to her face as she looked to Hardison, who mirrored it and glanced at Eliot. He knew he was fighting a losing battle with these three and he also knew he wouldn't let them do it without him. A pregnant silence spread over them all as they stared at the hitter, waiting for his answer.

"Screw it." He said and leaned forward, cocking an eyebrow in Sophie's direction. "So what now?" Sophie actually smiled at him before leaning over her shoulder and telling the pilot to hover over the nearest building so that they could get off before she returned her attention to her team, her family and friends.

"Alright, first…."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** totally don't own so don't suit!

**Notes: **So I've decided to do my replies to all of your wonderful reviews in the 'notes' section; if you want to talk to me further, just send me a message.Thanks so much for the great reviews guys! I was actually thinking of making Parker and Hardison advance in their relationship with each other in the next few chapters here, and because you asked, Peaceloveandbubblegum, it will definitely happen. And snowjewl, thank you so much! It means a lot to me that you would say that about my writing; I hope I don't disappoint! I am trying to make this read like an episode so hopefully I do it justice. Thanks again for your reviews! And if I find any mistakes throughout this, I'll be editing since I finished this at one in the morning.

**Chapter 2:**

Two hours. Two hours of sitting in an ER without any information about how Nathan Ford was doing, two hours of Amy Nevins bitching to him about how he shouldn't have taken that deal, _two freaking hours_ of a migraine onset by stress, lack of sleep, and the overall annoyance the FBI had turned out to be. James Sterling was a little more than agitated, but for the sake of his ego, his pride, and his overall appearance in a tough situation, he had to maintain his composure. He had spent the last few minutes hiding his eyes in his hands, rubbing them furiously in hopes that the fluorescent lights above would give his head a break, but when his attention was shifted to that of high heels clicking on the hospital floor he was more than a little disappointed that they meant the wicked-witch-of-the-west had arrived once again. He sighed rather loudly, attempting to tell her to piss off, but instead of opening his mouth in a retort Sterling was assaulted by the smell of coffee. He blinked up at her, squinting against the white light and spied two Advil in the palm of her other hand.

"A bribe no doubt." His suspicion made him raise an eyebrow up at her as he sat up and snatched the pills from her hand, then grabbed for the coffee which she moved out of his reach.

"How about a compromise then?" She tapped her foot lightly on the tiled floor, a sound and gesture he found beyond irritating. "I get to question him first, gather information for my case, and then you can have at him; I think I'm entitled to at least that." She flashed a smug look at him for a second before it vanished beneath her cold and official mask. Sterling studied her for a moment. There was no way in hell he was going to let this woman be alone in a room with _his_ suspect; no matter how much she deserved it.

"I'll tell you what, you give me that coffee and you can ask him whatever you want," Sterling paused, calculating her response which was to grin triumphantly before quickly shoving the cup at him. He took it with a curt nod.

"Rule number one Agent Nevins; never give up your leverage. Rule number two, I get to be in the room." He smirked before he popped the pills in his mouth and took a gulp of the coffee, which he looked down at and scowled before discarding it on the table next to him. Of course she would bring him a tepid cup of coffee. He leaned back as she sat down next to him, folded his arms across his chest and settled in with his eyes staring at the double doors ahead of him. _This keeps up any longer and I'm gonna kill her, _he thought as he ran a hand over his face. The minutes were sure to drag by now that she had returned, but even so he was beginning to wonder what was taking so long.

* * *

Parker was sitting in a café down the street from the hospital. Her fingers were wrapped lightly around a mug of coffee that she wasn't drinking; she hated coffee. But the smell was comforting because it smelled like Nate's apartment, because it smelled like normalcy. It had taken her an hour to finish her 'chores', but being at the rendezvous early was proving excruciatingly boring and dangerous for a wandering mind. For the first few minutes her thoughts had brought up ways in which she could extract revenge on Sterling for separating them, which led to her picturing her foot kicking him between the legs and stuffing him in a closet or tying him up some place extremely high and threatening to drop him. That was before the smell of coffee wafted by her, before she frowned as she thought of Nate lying in a hospital, a place he hated above all else, before she started to really _miss_ him. He was the one that had promised her revenge on Rand after she had gone home crying, he was the one to make it all better, but he wasn't here to do that. The thought of having to _be_ Nathan Ford scared her to death. She didn't fix things; she broke them, stole them, and ruined them. Nate had turned her skills as a thief around to a point where she could still enact her craft for the good of those in need. Before her thoughts could depress her even further, the voices of Eliot and Hardison arguing shifted her attention. The boys came walking towards the table in a heated conversation; something about Hardison not using his skills to their advantage.

"You know what you are?" Eliot snarled, his eyes glaring at the hacker as they stopped and took their seats.

"Nope, but I bet you're gonna tell me." Hardison leaned forward, daring the hitter to say it to his face.

"A pussy." As if it was the best comeback in history, Eliot sat back in his chair and fixed a cocky grin in Hardison's direction.

"Wow, really? Just…wow. Man my grandma could come up with better insults." Eliot was about to say something again when Parker jumped up from her chair, spilled the coffee in Eliot's lap, which made him jump up and away from the table, and yelled,

"I don't have a grandma!" The _entire_ restaurant looked at the three like they were crazy, Eliot bowed his head sheepishly and went to get another chair and some napkins, anything to escape the eyes boring into him, while Hardison stared at the blonde with a shocked face before recovering and making a bunch of faces that Parker could only classify as weird and kind of cute at the same time.

"Yeah, she's just, um, her grandma just died." He made an apologetic shrug and a few people sitting around them looked on sympathetically and returned to their own conversations. "Parker, what are you doing?" He muttered in hushed tones before grabbing her arm to pull her back down into her chair where she simply smiled at him randomly.

"I don't know. Anyway, I got what you wanted." She pulled out a bag from under the table, how she had managed it Hardison didn't know but peering inside told him that there was apparently nothing this girl couldn't do. Cash, credit cards, ID's…a goody bag of unlimited money and alias'. Hardison offered her his fist, which she pounded.

"Eliot and I managed to get back into Nate's apartment. I had to climb through a _window_! And I _own the place!_" By that time Eliot had returned to the table looking rather grim about the coffee being spilled on his jeans, but Parker was too busy rolling her eyes at the hacker to care that he was upset by her accident.

"Yeah, ol' numb nuts over here freaked, but we got his precious laptop and some earbuds." Rummaging through his pocket the hitter produced a clear, little electronic device which Parker took without a seconds hesitation and fixed it into her ear. Things were starting to look up, starting to feel like they used to, but there was still a tension, a silent pause as if the three didn't exactly know what else to talk about now that business had been concluded. Parker sat biting her lip absentmindedly, Eliot sat in his seat with his arms stretched out on the table and his fingers drumming away, while Hardison set up his laptop and the insistent sound of typing filled the air. It was only the arrival of Sophie that granted them peace from the painful silence. The grifter stopped short as all three of them looked up at her around the same time. Each of them cast a determined and almost regretful look at her; as if they could sense just how much she needed this plan to work. _I need him,_ the thought suddenly popped into Sophie's mind as she took her seat in a flurry of faux smiles and dramatic sighs; covering up her hesitation with her dexterity.

"Alright everyone, unlike your accounts mine were not frozen, nor have they been flagged. So," She brought three large shopping bags up onto the table, "I did a little shopping." She slid a bag towards each perspective person and watched as they investigated every item. Parker ripped through hers like a present on Christmas, making sounds every now and then when she was excited, Hardison smiled appreciatively at the good taste in shirts, and Eliot simply took out the top item, held it up and looked at Sophie with mild disbelief.

"Hardison gets Armani Exchange and I get scrubs?" His deep voice sounded just a little disappointed.

"No, you have True Religion in there and plus, you're going to need them for the job. There's also a lab coat, if you were wondering." Sophie smiled charmingly and looked to parker who was glowering at her with pink scrubs of her own in her hand. "Oh please Parker, you've tried on a jacket with shoulder pads and you won't wear something _pink?_" The grifter rolled her eyes when the glare continued and decided that enough time had been wasted talking about wardrobes. "Hardison, what can you tell us about security?"

"Oh, right." He moved the bag out of the way by shoving it at Eliot, who growled and made to throw it but was stopped by Parker who just grabbed his arm and pushed it away. By the time this happened, Hardison had moved the laptop around so that it was facing everyone. A schematic of the hospital was in one open window, and the other window contained the shifts of the guards. "So we've got twelve guys on duty tonight after 9:00 pm. One for each of the four main exits, another two in the stairwell, one in the cafeteria, lucky fella, three patrolling the levels at hour intervals, and I'm assuming two guarding the room Nate's in." Eliot was taking careful scrutiny of the layout the blueprints showed of every emergency exit, elevator, closet, and room. Twelve agents was a lot for a night shift, which meant Sterling wasn't taking any chances.

"Fifteen." Came the hitter's voice and everyone looked up at him in question.

"No, twelve." Hardison dragged out his voice slowly as if he were talking to a little kid.

"_Fifteen_ don't forget Sterling and Nevins." Eliot pointed at the screen to emphasize his point. This was going to be tough to pull off, not to mention getting out of there safely with a wounded mastermind. As Hardison made some points about the air ducts, Eliot was picturing the entire thing in his mind; where the agents were going to be, how fast they were walking, calculating every move they might make. Boston General was familiar to them, which was looking like the only upside to this entire operation. As Hardison finished up his debrief to the team, Eliot leaned forward and looked to Sophie. "So what's our exit strategy?"

* * *

"Finally." Sterling muttered as he sprang from his chair, cramped muscles protesting as he walked straight up to the doctor before the man could even clear the receptionist's desk. From what the Interpol agent could tell, the surgeon looked worn out, but he didn't particularly care because his patience was running on fumes. "What can you tell me?" Simple questions got faster answers.

"We managed to get the bullet out. There were some complications, but he's stable now. They're taking him to post-op where we'll monitor him for a few more hours to be on the safe side." Vague, Sterling _hated_ vague.

"What complications? And you saved the bullet for evidence as I instructed?" His last sentence was more of a statement than a question as he stared the doctor down.

"Agent Sterling his heart stopped once for about ninety-seconds," The doctor paused when Sterling's eyes widened in disbelief. He was starting to wonder just how much blood Nate had lost prior to their final deal. "And this isn't my first time. Your evidence will be sent down with one of the nurses later. He's in recovery room 209, and there's a more comfortable waiting area for you near there; unless you'd rather stay in the ER all night." The surgeon's voice sounded sarcastic as he wagged his eyebrows once and turned to walk through the doors without another word. Sterling watched the man go for a few seconds longer, processing as the doors swayed to a close, before he finally turned and begrudgingly took up a conversation with Agent Nevins to fill her in.

* * *

The feeling of pain was both stabbing and very far away; as if he were struggling between reality and some other dimension of consciousness. He could hear himself breathing, hear the roar of his heart beat in his ears, but he could _see_ nothing. It wasn't until a minute or two later that his mind pulled itself out of the fog and realized that his eyes were closed. They felt so heavy to lift, even if it was more of a slit than anything else. Everything was happening so slowly, a painstaking carefulness that Nate could hardly stand. It was like waking up from an insanely long nap. His vision wouldn't focus, his eyes felt too heavy to conquer the weakness of his body and the drugs taking effect on him to help him rest. For a moment he felt as if the entire thing had been a dream, that he was safe somewhere with his team, but then a bright and excruciating light pierced his line of sight and a muffled voice spoke something that sounded like his name. He squinted, trying to make his tongue move, his mouth open to make words, to tell them to leave him alone, but nothing worked. _So tired,_ he thought before he found the only way to escape that bright and penetrating light; sleep….


End file.
